Leigh Bardugo

	This creator appreciates fanworks, but hasn't promised to be cool about fans making money.

Leigh Bardugo, who writes without a pen name, created "The Grishaverse", including the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, and the King of Scars duology. Bardugo is flattered by the existence of fanworks, but is less interested in looking at and promoting fanfiction than doing the same for fanworks that use other media.

Statements

2013

Here’s my stance and I’ll admit that I haven’t thought too deeply about this because (as far as I know), there isn’t a ton of Grisha trilogy fan fiction out there.

I’m flattered by fan fiction.

I’m delighted that anyone would feel invested enough in my characters or the world I created to want to write stories based around them—even if it’s because they don’t like where I took the narrative (who got killed, who got kissed, etc).

I’ve had a few people send me fics, and unfortunately, I’ve had to decline reading them. I will admit to being incredibly curious, but until the trilogy is published (and maybe even after), I just don’t want other narratives in my head.

Similarly, when some fic recently appeared in the Shadow and Bone tag, I didn’t reblog (despite the swoon-inducing fancasting of RICHARD ARMITAGE—a moment please, for RICHARD ARMITAGE—as the Darkling). This isn’t because I disapprove of fanfic in any way. It just feels like by reblogging or linking I would be endorsing particular narratives or pairings. I would also be bringing in rogue narratives that I’m not prepared to have blur with my own canon.

Why is fanart different? I’m not sure. It’s not as if there aren’t powerful narratives built into the art that people create, but somehow fanart doesn’t feel like it crosses the creative boundary for me in the same way.

Again, I should probably think a bit more deeply about this so if I suddenly change my mind and start reblogging 50 Shades of Darkling three months from now, don’t hold it against me.

But I just want you guys to know that, even if I don’t read or reblog, I’m honored by any fanfic you’re inspired to create. The same goes for interpretive dance.

Statement sources

2013—https://web.archive.org/web/20181204105333/https://lbardugo.tumblr.com/post/43112331966/re-fanfic

Works

Shadow and Bone (2012)
The Witch of Duva (2012)
Siege and Storm (2013)
The Tailor (2013)
The Too-Clever Fox (2013)
Ruin and Rising (2014)
Little Knife (2014)
Six of Crows (2015)
The Demon in the Wood: A Darkling Prequel Story (2015)
Verse Chorus Verse in Slasher Girls & Monster Boys (2015)
Crooked Kingdom (2016)
Head, Scales, Tongue, and Tail in Summer Days and Summer Nights (2016)
The Language of Thorns (2017)
Wonder Woman: Warbringer (2017)
Ayama and the Thorn Wood (2017)
The Soldier Prince (2017)
When Water Sang Fire (2017)
King of Scars (2019)
Ninth House (2019)
The Lives of Saints (2020)
Wonder Woman: Warbringer (comic) (2020)
Rule of Wolves (2021)
Demon in the Wood (graphic novel) (2022)
Hell Bent (2023)
The Familiar (2024)